No, I don’t get the joke of conflating Yiddish and Russian. Would you be so kind to enlighten me?

I’m pretty sure that “Oy wey” is Yiddish, not Russian.

Maybe the glycoalkaloid content differs between potatoe sorts? I have used sprouted potatoes my whole life without any issues whatsoever. Might have been just lucky that our potatoes are low on glycoalkakoids?

Ok – this is the official statement of the German Federal Agency for Risk Assessment.

TL;DR

• there have been only a couple of reports of glycoalkaloid poisoning through potatoe consumption during the last 100 years.
• sprouts, green parts and the skin of potatoes contain glycoalcaloids.
• cooking reduces glycoalcaloids.
• peeled and cooked potatoes are safe to eat.

Culinary preferences might make the difference: in Germany potatoes are eaten peeled = very low risk of poisoning, while my Canadian host family ate potatoes with their skin = slightly higher risk of poisoning, especially if you cut out sprouts but leave the skin.

It’s not a meme.